Oct. 1, 2012

A rendering of Colorado State University's proposed stadium.

Written by

Now what?

CSU President Tony Frank’s conditional recommendation will go before the university’s system governing board for final approval. He is expected to address Board of Governors members at the start of Thursday’s meeting in the Cherokee Park ballroom. Members of the public are encouraged to share their thoughts about Frank’s decision starting at 8 a.m. Thursday. CSU spokesman Kyle Henley couldn’t share many details Monday but said the board has reserved “at least a couple” hours for public commentary.

CSU President Tony Frank on Monday gave a conditional green light to the long-debated on-campus stadium project.

But his approval hinged being able to raise $125 million — or half of the estimated $246 million price tag — from private funds before moving forward to determine seating plans and the like. He said state general funds, state tuition or fees and tax proceeds shouldn't be used to fund the proposed $246 million, 43,000-seat facility.

Frank said he'd have to be "extremely confident" that philanthropic support, combined with committed stadium revenues, would cover the cost of the stadium before taking "any" financing package to the CSU system Board of Governors for final approval of the project. His recommendation will go to the governing board this week, as members meet at the Fort Collins campus Thursday and Friday.

“If the Stadium Advisory Committee concluded that we could build a stadium (and I agree), and if I've concluded that I think we should build a stadium (and I have), then one question remains: Can we?” he said in a written announcement, posted Monday afternoon to the web page for the Office of the President.

Frank wasn’t available for comment Monday following his announcement.

The new stadium is expected to bring in between $6.35 and $18.31 million in its first year of operations, according to projections by university-hired Conventions, Sports and Leisure International. The consulting firm has said the financial projections are “achievable,” but many say projections are “optimistic.” One sports economist hired by stadium skeptics said benefits would exceed costs only under “highly unusual” circumstances.

While numbers aren’t set in stone, the projected stadium cost is $246 million. This doesn’t include building a potential $16 million alumni welcome center and $30 million parking facility in university plans, Frank said, or spending an estimated $9 million to potentially move the Plant Environmental Research Center from its current Lake Street location to university land off Centre Avenue.

(Page 2 of 4)

Based on projections for revenues to support financed debt, Frank said it would “be difficult” for him to get behind a plan that doesn’t bring in at least 50 percent of the total cost in philanthropic gifts. While Athletic Director Jack Graham said about $700,000 was raised to fund the feasibility study and initial design phase, CSU system spokesman Kyle Henley said no money had been raised to fund the on-campus stadium construction prior to Frank’s decision.

A fundraising plan will form if and when the Board of Governors OKs Frank’s recommendation, Henley said.

Since he took the place of former Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk, Graham has publicly argued that a new stadium would draw the university and city communities together and attract higher-caliber athletes to CSU’s campus at a time when the university has plans to grow enrollment from more than 26,000 to 35,000 students in coming years. Frank agreed with some of the rationale, recognizing counter-arguments that say the money is better invested in aging Hughes Stadium.

"The reasons I have found compelling are not new,” Frank said in the announcement. “I like the idea of bringing people onto our campus: alumni returning to reconnect with the place they lived and learned, fans and their families coming to the campus around the event of a football game, and students enjoying an event — whether a concert or a commencement — in the space they call home for a wonderful, if short, period of their lives.”

Addressing concerns over a presumed path to a culture of "big athletics," Frank said he understands the concern but said in the announcement that he isn't compelled by the argument.

"… there is so much middle ground between where CSU currently resides in terms of athletic spending and prominence and the role of athletics at a mega-university," he said in the announcement. "I believe we can improve — and indeed expect excellence in — our athletic programs, without losing our culture or our focus on who we are as a university and what we exist to do."

(Page 3 of 4)

At the same time, he doubts a new stadium will magically make our players faster or stronger" and that while it might help with new recruiting, "the quality of our student-athletes and our teams will be determined by much, much more than our facilities."

An on-campus stadium has the potential to bring "magic" to CSU's campus, the likes of which could bring current students, faculty and alumni together in a way that an off-campus facility never could.

He believes Frank has laid out an tentative plan that's "very responsible.” Fundraising at least $125 million will be a challenge, Shannon said, but there are "a lot of people," himself included, who are "very committed" to helping CSU and the Athletic Department raise the money.

"Nobody ever said it was going to be easy," he said, adding, "Now it's almost put up or shut up."

When asked whether she saw Frank's decision coming down in the manner it did, CSU student government President Regina Martel said, "I sure did not. I was kind of waiting on pins and needles like everybody else."

Frank's words about not using student fees or tuition to cover costs of the new building also put her feelings "a little bit at ease."

While there are students who largely support the on-campus stadium, an Associated Students of CSU survey that elicited more than 3,500 responses found that more than half of students disagreed with the idea of CSU building an on-campus stadium. More than half expressed concerns about parking and the future of Hughes.

Because Frank said "yes," Martel said the question becomes: "How are we going to express the concerns of the nos now?"

While "not perfect," Frank said in his announcement, the stadium's proposed north-south orientation off of Lake Street on the southern side of campus meets predetermined requirements: "protecting the iconic green spaces of this campus, maintaining the key views and open feel of CSU, and leaving ample space for expansion of academic and housing facilities as our university continues to grow over time."

(Page 4 of 4)

But Bob Vangermeersch, leader of the opponent group Save Our Stadium Hughes, and others said this isn't true. "We think he's broken three of the four caveats he's put out there," Vangermeersch said.

Initial plans have the stadium's roughly 12-acre footprint assuming about 5 to 6 out of 10 acres at CSU's Plant Environmental Research Center, a longstanding facility that features a public garden and is home to years of faculty and student research. This is strike one against Frank's decision, Vangermeersch said.

Then there's the potential burdens an on-campus stadium would impose upon neighbors in areas surrounding campus: noise, pollution, parking congestion and safety concerns, he said.

"Can you imagine 40,000 drunken fans spilling out of that place in half an hour into the dormitories and surrounding neighborhoods?" he asked.

The biggest piece, though, is the financial load that Vangermeersch and others believe will be rested on the shoulders of taxpayers and students in the form of financed debt.

"It's a lousy investment, no matter who pays for it," he said.

The city of Fort Collins and CSU will continue to talk and plan for how an on-campus stadium could impact existing infrastructure — streets, bicycle and pedestrian facilities and more, Deputy City Manager Diane Jones said. Because planning is at a “very preliminary stage,” she couldn’t say how much the city would be willing to pay to accommodate a new stadium, should it receive final approval.

“We don’t have a handle on specific improvements needed, nor the cost,” she said, adding that those details would likely come out of future conversations.

Student voices were equally gray.

“I feel like the campus is already getting congested enough,” junior Jenna Tustin said, referring to the more than $500 million in construction projects either recently completed or in the works at the Fort Collins campus.

And Colorado — Fort Collins especially — isn’t like Texas, she said, where football is a vital part of the culture.

Sophomore Eli Venekamp wonders whether it’s prudent to spend a quarter-billion dollars on a stadium — even with significant private support — as federal and state funding to higher education has dried up over the past few years. While conditions are more optimistic this year than in the past, Frank has said higher ed dollars could run out in the next seven to 10 years.

“It seems like a lot of money when we don’t have a lot of money,” he said.

While there are obvious pros and cons, juniors Steven Wild and Sam Domenico agreed a new stadium would be “cool,” drawing more people together and enabling students without cars to watch the Rams play.